The loading of the tank of a seeder has become more difficult in recent years due to the increase in size of the container or tank, due to the difficulty of reaching the loading opening of the tank and due to the current use of belly-dump trailers rather than the conventional lift trailer.
Various arrangements have been used to resolve this problem and many seeder tanks now carry a loading mechanism in the form of a conveyor which is mounted on a suitable mounting assembly at the side of the tank. Generally the conveyor duct is mounted at the end of an arm which can swivel side to side about a vertical axis and the duct itself can also swivel about a pin at the end of the arm so that the location of the hopper at the lower end of the duct can be manoeuvred to different positions.
Examples of these are shown in:
Canadian Patent 2,257,048 (Lisafeld) originally published on 30 Jun. 2000 which shows an air seeder tank with an auger tube attached to one side of the tank for pivotal movement about a vertical axis allowing a hopper at the lower end of the auger tube to be moved to a position underneath a supply vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,267,519 (Cresswell) assigned to Bourgault originally published on 27 Oct. 2005 which shows a similar arrangement in which the hopper at the lower end is hinged about a transverse axis to fold to a retracted position on top of the auger tube.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,500,814 (Mayer) assigned to Deere originally published on 12 Apr. 2007 which shows a similar arrangement in a hydraulic positioning system is provided to move the auger tube to a required position.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,488,149 (Waldner) assigned to Decker Colony Farms originally published on 21 Aug. 2006 which shows a swing arm which carries and manipulates the auger tube.
Other arrangements have been proposed to carry out this function but they are very expensive including providing conveyors mounted on the supply vehicle itself. These have generally not been satisfactory.
The disclosures of the above published documents are incorporated herein by reference or may be referred to for further details of components not fully disclosed herein.